A recent report from the FBI shows that of the 26 police officers killed in 2013, 13 of them were killed by individuals who couldn’t own a gun.

According to the FBI report, 26 police officers were killed by firearms in 2013 and of those 26, 13 of them were killed by individuals who were banned from owning firearms due to previous convictions or other factors, like mental illness. This report raises serious questions about gun control and its actual ability to protect citizens and police officers alike.

Gun Control activists like Everytown for Gun Safety, don’t see it in the same light. Despite the fact that these individuals had “100% gun control” imposed upon them, they still were able to obtain firearms and use them to commit heinous crimes. Everytown contends that by “closing loopholes” these violent criminals would not be able to obtain firearms – an idea that is completely contrary to the statistics included in the FBI report, which goes case by case and highlights how each individual couldn’t legally own a firearm. Despite this, John Feinblatt – Everytown’s President, had this to say,

“Police officers are on the front lines protecting our communities each and every day — we owe it to them to close the loopholes that make it easy for criminals to dodge background checks and easily get their hands on guns,”

Feinblatt went on to say that, “no law will make gun violence go away completely”, he was sure to include a study conducted by his organization to show that officers in states with “expanded background checks” are 48 percent less likely to be killed in the line of duty. He did not mention the “unenforceable” nature of the “universal background checks” proposed by his organization.

Gun rights supporters do not agree with Everytown’s assertion that officers are safer in states with “universal background checks”, an NRA spokeswoman responded to Everytown’s “so-called study”, calling it a “Michael Bloomberg funded public relations student that exploits the tragic deaths of law enforcement officers in order to further Bloomberg’s own political agenda.”

“It proves the point that no law — including the capital offense of murder of a police officer — is going to prevent the worst elements of society from committing the worst sort of evil,” Baker continued. “In the majority of the cases cited it was already illegal for the assailant to possess a firearm and to suggest that more gun control would have stopped any of these crimes is at best naive.”